Hello, and welcome to the 12th entry in my New York Marathon
training blog. THE 12th! More on that later...
Thanks, as always, for taking the time to read my updates. If you don’t
already know, I’m running the New York Marathon in November in memory of my
sister and in aid of The Joanna Brown Trust, a charity we’ve founded in her
memory. Having the support of everyone means a lot and as the date draws ever
nearer I’m sure I’ll need that support more ever.
The fact I write these blogs every month and this is my 12th
means I’ve been doing this for a year now. A YEAR! It is actually really scary
how fast it has gone. The most worrying thing is when I start this journey I
hoped to be a lot further on in terms of my training and fitness than I
currently am. I have been training but probably not as much as I could have
done, if I am being honest. I am feeling better then I go running, I think I’ve
found a rhythm and technique and so therefore feel I’m not too far away from
making some real progress. If anything it’s all psychological.
Three friends of mine ran the London Marathon a few weeks ago in aid of
The Joanna Brown Trust. Katie and I went down to support them and it was such a
brilliant day. Bruce, Kiwi & Helen all did so fantastically well. Whilst
there I wasn’t sure how it was going to make me feel about New York. It’s the
first marathon I’ve ever been to. Having been there and seen the runners and
supporters, especially in the finish area, was really inspiring. In previous
blogs I’ve said about the difference between ‘I will do’ and ‘I can do’ the NYC
Marathon. Now, having seen all those people and experienced the event as a
whole I WANT to do it.
It seems strange to say that as I always thought the personal reasons
why I’m doing this would be more than enough to get me through. I do think that
will be the case in the end but I also have this extra motivation of ‘what an
amazing thing to do in your life’. Until now I hadn’t ever really thought about
in that way and I’m sure it will help me get through the difficult times ahead.
Overall, if I look back at the last year I’m nowhere near where I’d have
hoped to be. I just need to keep faith, it may well be blind faith, but it is
still faith...
Thanks for listening
Rich
